Jonathan Gathers
Jon Gathers is a former Democratic nominee for president, senator, vice president, and now current president of the Mock United States. He is known for being the leader of the Democratic Party, the Senate Majority leader, and the head of the Gathers wing of the Democratic Party. The time from December, 2016, to August, 2017 is generally what is referred to as the "Gathers Era". He is intent on retiring from politics and focusing his time on the pursuit of science and learning. Gathers is a practicing Muslim, and a young civil rights activist. Old Mock Election Community In late November, 2016 in the original MEC, a presidential election was well underway. Duncan Daly, Democratic candidate, was on his way to accepting the nomination of his party, and Gabe Fly (I) and Tim Taft ® were already established as their parties' candidates. Daly was trailing fourth in the polls under some write in candidates, and Gathers, new to the community, saw the need for a stronger liberal candidate to take on Fly and Taft. So on December 1st, he launched his presidential campaign as a Green Party candidate, a party he disliked but liberal enough to support his ideology. Within two days, Gathers rose not just past Daly, but to second in the polls, surpassing Tim Taft himself. Daly decided to drop out, and let Gathers take the nomination, and became the new Gathers campaign manager. Gathers chose socialist Jason Oliver as his running mate, and they began to run together. Taft eventually dropped out, and Gathers saw an upswing in vote. His strong stance on freedom of speech, education, and immigration, not to mention racial injustice, made him popular on both sides of the race, and he was voted the candidate with the best personality. Towards the end of December, he overtook Fly, whose campaign was being repeatedly struck with rumors and scandals, and Gathers and his campaign surged towards the convention, where he was nominated and gave a speech which was applauded by Democrats and Republicans alike. Politics are about people. It's about people working to represent people and to help people. They're not supposed to further their own agenda, or their party's agenda. Once you become president, or you're elected to any office, you can no longer see dividing lines. We're no longer Democrats, or Republican, or Independents. We're Americans, and our officials have to provide for everyone the same. Think about that: we're being elected to be the voice of the people, and to carry out the will of the people in government. Yet for years, we've seen no advancement for America. Our jobs continued to be carried overseas, our economy is failing, and hate crimes abound in the southern United States. My heart breaks for this country. We need to get this country back on track. We need to once again try to focus on Women's rights issues, children's issues, affordable healthcare so people can afford to get themselves the care they need... That's one right every American deserves, the right to live. And so it is my goal, to this day. I vow to represent the American people, every last individual's best interests, and help uphold the Constitution. I vow to and will be a champion for the people. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I'm running for president of the United States, and hope to lead this country to straits of greatness never before dreamed of. -excerpt from nomination acceptance speech by Jon Gathers, Democratic National Convention, Jan. 3rd, 2017 A few days before the election, an agent of the Fly campaign worked his way into the Gathers campaign HQ and leaked multiple conversations through Fly's brother, including a screenshot of Gathers cursing over the fact that Taft had strung him along by claiming he might support him over Fly, but not intending to at all. Support dropped slightly. On the day of the election, January 11th, Jon Gathers walked away with 48% of the vote, but later findings showed that he in fact won clear and away, but fake accounts were used to pad the Fly vote, and he was not, in fact, inaugurated. MEC+ (Gathers Era: Jan, 2017-) After the election, Jon Gathers conceded to Gabe Fly, and immediately entered talks with him and his vice president-elect about the possibilities of joint progress, and they moved their attentions to the possibility of establishing a Senate to work alongside the executive branch. Ethan Kelly, a supporter of Gathers, had gone and created a senate, but outgoing President Japheth Hilton became furious and threatened to cut off not just the senate community, but the president-elect as well. Owner of MEC, Tim Taft, had placed Hilton in charge, and he became quite the dictator. As a result, MEC+, an alternative community that would connect to the senate, was created, which even further infuriated Hilton. On the day of the inauguration, when Jon Gathers swore in Fly and his VP Jess Bullard, MEC+ officially split away from MEC, and Gathers, Fly, Bullard, Kelly, and a host of others who had followed the previously mentioned over to the new community, were banned by Hilton. Time as a Senator When the Senate was first created, President Fly appointed three senators (A Democrat, A Republican, and an Independent) to be the first senators and the first senate. He chose Jon Gathers to fill the Democratic spot, which Gathers accepted whole-heartedly. They intended to hold the first senate election soon afterwards and those elected would join the appointed senators. The appointed senators would stay in the senate virtually forever, until they decided to leave... a lifetime appointment. The three appointed senators were Stafford, Taft, and Gathers, as before stated. Sworn in on the same day as President Fly, the first thing Sen. Gathers did was move to ban former President Hilton from the new communities. When the senate shut down over the argument this created, Sen. Gathers and President Fly had a private meeting about it, and together they wrote the first executive order of the administration, banning former Pres. Hilton from the communities. Sen. Gathers worded it so that only a full vote of the senate could overturn it. The controversy with Hilton and the MEC would continue for almost three election seasons to follow, but at this time, it was laid to rest. Sen. Gathers immediately went to work to find Democratic candidates for the upcoming senate race, as he was currently the leader of the Democratic Party, being the last nominee for president. He formed the Democratic National Committee, and helped draw up the senate districts. Duncan Daly, Drake Caprio, former Democratic nominee and champion Issc, and Ethan Kelly stepped forth, and Sen. Gathers began running their campaigns, creating ads and speeches and campaigning on their behalves. Liberal Independent Josepth Nicasio began running as well, and as he was a previous supporter of Sen. Gathers, he threw his support behind him and began to help him with his race. Nicasio then agreed to caucus with the Democrats once in the Senate. On February 13th, Sen. Gathers's hard work paid off, and every single Democrat was elected to the senate, as was Nicasio. Within weeks, Sen. Gathers had established a Democratic majority. They virtually dwarfed the conservatives, and as soon as the new senators were sworn in, Sen. Gathers was voted Senate Majority Leader. The most powerful man in the senate, Sen. Gathers also had unprecedented access to President Fly's administration as one of his top advisers. He helped write executive orders, and pushed more liberal-leaning bills through the senate. However, he wasn't at all afraid to stand up to the president, blocking the administrations' attempts to pass multiple bills that would restrict freedom rather expand it. He also introduced his religious freedom bill, which backed up previously established legislation. Though it narrowly escaped being vetoed, it passed through and was enacted shortly into his term as senator. His amendments to the Mock Constitution were passed, as well.